Talking with your care team about cancer pain
Pain is one of the most common symptoms of cancer. Thankfully, there are many ways to manage it. The first step to managing cancer pain is having an open and honest conversation with your care team about your pain and how it affects your life.
Everyone’s cancer, their pain, body chemistry, and personal preferences about pain management are different. That’s why it’s important to work with your care team to come up with a personalized pain management plan. To do this, your care team needs to understand your pain.
Below are some useful questions that can help your cancer team understand your pain and understand your priorities for pain management. It can be helpful to think about these questions ahead of your appointment, or even write down your answers and bring them with you.
Useful questions to help your care team understand your pain:
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Where does it hurt?
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How long has the pain been going on?
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How severe is the pain at its worst? At its best? On average?
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What does the pain feel like? (Think of words like sharp, dull, burning, tingling, aching, stabbing, sore)
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Does anything make the pain feel better? Or worse?
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How does your pain affect your daily life and activities?
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How well are your pain medications working for you?
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Are you doing activities that matter to you, or are you avoiding activity?
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Are you having any side effects from your pain medicines?
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Are you avoiding taking your pain medicine because of the side effects?
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What are your expectations for your pain control?
Cancer pain sometimes changes over time. It is common to notice changes in your pain at home and to wonder whether you need to contact your care team. The bottom line is that your care team wants to hear from you if you hare having worsening pain or symptoms that concern you. If you are having severe symptoms, or if you are worried at all – call your care team right away. You may need to page them if it is after normal business hours – that is OKAY and the right thing to do!
